


Afterglow

by luckyferrero



Category: Bloodbound (Visual Novels), Choices: Stories You Play
Genre: Abandoned Mall, Angst, Beds, F/M, Furniture Store, Hidden Power, Human/Vampire Relationship, Hurt/Comfort, Kissing, Loss, Love, Originally Posted on Tumblr, Self-Doubt, argument, brief mention of sex, brief nudity
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-04
Updated: 2020-08-04
Packaged: 2021-03-04 17:30:10
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,781
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25450129
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/luckyferrero/pseuds/luckyferrero
Summary: Back in New York, in an abandoned mall, Adrian wakes up to find Katrina no longer beside him.
Relationships: Adrian Raines/Katrina Carson, Adrian Raines/Main Character (Bloodbound)
Comments: 2
Kudos: 8





	Afterglow

**Author's Note:**

> Hello hello! Hope you are doing well! This takes place on the latter part of the diamond choice in Chapter 15 of Bloodbound 2, after MC and Adrian fall asleep on the display bed in the furniture shop.

Adrian woke up, naked, to find the other side of the bed empty. He called out her name, and when he was met with silence, the sleep completely wore off his body. _Where is she?_ With the current state of New York, he found it reasonable to worry. “Katrina!” He called out once more as he wore his clothes.

“Right here.”

Swiftly, he followed her voice as it led him to the nearby mattress section. There, he found her sitting on one, her legs dangling off the edge. “Hey.” She looked up at him, returning the greeting with a quick smile on her lips. “I woke up to you gone.” A small chuckle left her.

“Worried?” He nodded as he sat down next to her.

“Want to tell me why you’re awake at four in the morning?” Her eyes grew wide with a subtle shock. Then she smirked, looking down at her hands. “So, it has only been two hours, huh?” She asked, her fingers tugging a loose thread on the mattress.

“What do you mean?”

“Since I woke up.” She sighed, then shrugged. “I tried to sleep well, but I just…” She shook her head. “Those two hours felt like forever, actually.” She continued, before giggling. He noticed, however, that her smile didn’t quite reach her eyes. “Though, you and I do have a rather _different_ notion of forever.” She spoke kindly, but he could hear a slight strain of cynicism in her voice. Then he was concerned.

Not because she wasn’t one to have such a sharp tongue. Katrina was witty and, at times, snarky, and it was just one reason that made him fall for her. But at this time, on a bare mattress inside a furniture store, she wasn’t being snarky to tease him. He knew that there was something in her mind that was bothering her.

Slowly, he held her hands, running his thumbs across the back of her palms. Over the six months they spent together, he learned that it was one way to calm her down. Not that he ever really needed to do so frequently, since she always knew better than to lose a temper. “Katrina...” A slight frown curled on his lips. He couldn’t help himself. She wouldn’t look at him, and in the dimmed lighting of the store, he could see the faintest shade of red coloring her cheeks.

He leaned closer and kissed a small spot on the top of her head. “Tell me what’s wrong.” He whispered.

When she looked up at him, there were tears glistening in her eyes, but he didn’t panic. He didn’t make a fuss, or go frantic, even if he wanted to. They just stayed that way for a moment, until she spoke.

“I don’t know who I am anymore.”

He was stunned. He knew that beneath the impending war with Gaius, this whole journey was also about her being a Bloodkeeper. But it was clear, he was beginning to realize, that he hadn’t been paying much attention to how much it has taken a toll on her. He pulled her closer and kept himself quiet. He didn’t want to pry. He wasn’t one to do such a thing anyway. “It’s alright,” he said. He felt her hands hold onto his arms for a moment, before pulling herself away. “No,” she wiped the tears off her face, “I’ve been hiding something from you.”

He blinked, confusion filling his mind as his eyebrows knitted themselves. _What does she mean?_ He wasn’t sure, but he wanted to appease her. He let out a chuckle. “So you _did_ have sex with Vlad.” He joked, attempting to elicit even the smallest crack of a smile from her lips. But when she replied with a blank stare, he apologized. “I just…I wanted to cheer you up.”

“Not helping.”

“I know.” He sighed, apologizing again. He looked at her intently. “You can tell me though. You know that, right?” She let out another sigh, evidently avoiding his gaze. “Yeah.” Her voice was soft but shaky. He reached for her hands once more, this time interlocking their fingers. “I’m right here,” he said, “just listening.”

So, he listened to everything she said. Everything Serafine told her in the airport before they left for New York. And when she was through with it, Adrian was speechless. _A darkness, a monster within her? It can’t be._ Silence filled the room for a while. Then...

“Maybe Serafine is wrong.”

She gave him a look, as though she couldn’t believe what she just heard. Then snorted with laughter.

“Well, enlighten me, Adrian. Was she ever wrong before?” He found himself unable to answer. She scoffed. “Exactly.” With that, she got off the bed, anger radiating out of her like an unbearable heatwave.

Adrian was determined to follow her. “But I know you, Katrina.” _And it was as though the chaos from outside manifested into her._

She stopped walking, turning around to face him. “Do you?” He then found her gripping the lapels of his jacket. She wore a scowl on her face. He had never seen her like that before. “Do you really know me, Adrian? Because I don’t even know myself! I just told you that!”

Then she pushed him as hard as she could. It wasn’t much, he barely moved. Nevertheless, he was stunned. They both were, evident in the shock that was across their faces. She wasn’t one to hurt the people she cared for with intention, and yet there she was. Driven by anger, maybe? Or hurt? Adrian couldn’t quite tell. 

But he felt it with a sense of familiarity that he couldn’t quite pinpoint. A tugging at his chest he knew he had felt in the past.

Then, quickly, like lightning streaking through the sky, he found his answer. “Katrina,” He walked closer to her, “please...” He wrapped his arms around her.

He had been there before. More than once, even. _When he lost his family back in 1781._

_When he lost Celia about a hundred years ago._

_When Gaius returned._

_When Serafine was taken away by the Order._

_When he thought that all there was left to save everyone was to turn into a monster._ He knew this feeling. He understood it _too well_. 

_He had been broken too._

They stayed there, standing in front of the mattress, the silence looming over them for a while. “I’m scared, Adrian.” She spoke against his chest. Her voice was soft but tired. “Not of you, or of Gaius, or of anything else. But of myself.”

He tried to think of the right words to say. “I…” He sighed. “I know what that feels like.” He felt her hands hold his.

“I’m sorry.” She whispered.

He chuckled, telling her that it was alright. But he knew that she wasn’t apologizing for what she did. They understood each other, and it brought him relief. “You aren’t alone in this, Katrina. I’ll always be here.”

He kissed the top of her head. “Let’s forget about this.” She said, and they shared a gaze. She touched his cheek with her palm. She had a kind of warmth that seemed vaguely familiar… _almost like the sun_. She repeated herself, and just for a split second, Adrian felt her warmth even more. He nodded.

“Anything for you.” With that, they both went back to bed, sleeping in each other’s arms. At the moment, he felt safe with her, and he knew that she felt the same as him. In the midst of the chaos outside, everything was calm and quiet between them. He found peace in her.

——————————

Katrina woke up to a gentle shaking on her arm. She turned to find Adrian on her side of the bed, sitting right beside her feet. “Hey, beautiful.” He greeted, a soft smile on his lips. She returned the gesture as she sat up, asking him about the time. “It’s _time_ for us to go downstairs.” She rolled her eyes. He chuckled. “It’s already dusk, Katrina.” She nodded.

They both got off the bed and walking hand-in-hand out of the furniture store when she remembered the events that transpired hours before. She stopped in her tracks, tugging Adrian along. “What’s the matter?” He asked, his eyebrows close in sudden worry. She smiled to somehow appease him. “It’s just…please don’t tell anyone about what happened earlier.”

The worry on his face shifted to a look of confusion, then it lit up as he chuckled. “Katrina,” he gave a gentle chuckle, “I don’t think anyone would be interested in how we had sex on a display bed.” She scoffed, poking him playfully. “That’s not what I meant. I mean our argument after that.”

“What argument?”

She stared at him, stunned. _How could he forget so quickly?_ “The one...we had...a couple of hours ago? There, at the mattress section?”

Now they were both confused. Clearly, for different reasons. “Are you quite alright, Katrina?” “I am!” She exclaimed, her voice pitched high. _Almost_ defensive. “Oh, come on, Adrian! When I said that we should forget about it, that doesn’t mean that you—” She felt her palms glow once again, and her words sang in her like a soft lullaby. _Let’s forget about this._

And the lullaby became a feeling surging through her body. It was still soft...but dreadful, and she could feel like as it crept the thought into her mind.

“It...must have been a dream.” She said, her words left uncertain and a quiet laugh left her to accompany them. “I’ve been dreaming so much so often, I can’t even tell what is real from what is a dream anymore.” She found him looking at her with sympathy, before being pulled into his arms. “What _is_ real is this.” He lifted her chin for their lips to meet. It was a quick kiss, and Katrina was worried that if she stayed too preoccupied with her thoughts, she would’ve missed this.

But her thoughts still lingered, even as they pulled away to share an embrace, even as Adrian looked at her lovingly. They remained as the two began to walk together, warming her palms. It scared Katrina, how much she had just realized in these last few moments.

She had a power, and it was in the palm of her hands, and in the words that she spoke.

Adrian didn’t forget about the argument. _Let’s forget about it._ She made him forget about it.

Whatever darkness was inside of her, Katrina felt it begin to grow. And while, for the past few days, she had become increasingly frightened of Adrian.

This time, she was becoming frightened of herself.

**Author's Note:**

> Alrighty! If you've made it to this part of the fic, thank you so much for reading! I hope you enjoyed reading this as much as I enjoyed writing it! :)


End file.
